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Recently inherited a K1200GT 17k miles

3K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  Wil-2020 
#1 ·
I am a new rider (very green) I’ve ridden a dirt bike a few times and put a couple hundred miles on a 200cc moped.
I keep hearing that 1200cc’s is too much bike for a beginner. I feel I am very responsible and precautious person by nature. I’m also taking the MSF course in a couple weeks.
You ‘guys got any advise/thought on this?
 
#2 ·
I am a new rider (very green) I’ve ridden a dirt bike a few times and put a couple hundred miles on a 200cc moped.
I keep hearing that 1200cc’s is too much bike for a beginner. I feel I am very responsible and precautious person by nature. I’m also taking the MSF course in a couple weeks.
You ‘guys got any advise/thought on this?
You could be pre-cautious (??!) and precocious, and still have trouble handling the K12GT. Good start, to be taking the MSF course which teaches you how to ride a motorcycle. Unless things have changed, I never thought that the course prepared you properly for road riding.
Ride with the seat in the low position (unless you're overly tall) until you get the feel of the bike at slow speeds. EVO brakes will feel a little sensitive until you get used to them. Where are you located ?
 
#3 ·
You could be pre-cautious (??!) and precocious, and still have trouble handling the K12GT. Good start, to be taking the MSF course which teaches you how to ride a motorcycle. Unless things have changed, I never thought that the course prepared you properly for road riding.
Ride with the seat in the low position (unless you're overly tall) until you get the feel of the bike at slow speeds. EVO brakes will feel a little sensitive until you get used to them. Where are you located ?
I’m up north in NY state ..about 90 minutes from Niagara Falls.
I’m looking forward to riding up there before the winter time.
 
#7 ·
I got my motorcycle endorsement after completing a new rider course on the supplied Honda 250’s over 20 years ago. I had a good friend loan me her Suzuki 650 single several times in what amounted to maybe 350 miles of experience shortly after I first got my license. Then > 15 years of no motorcycle experience. I’ve always been a cyclist and averaged 2000-6000 miles a year during most all of that time. Then I decided I wanted a motorcycle. Found a extremely clean 03 GT with barely 4000 miles on the clock. I knew it was too much bike, but I also felt like my cycling experience counted for something.

Read. Watch videos. Practice. I practiced all the skills for the advanced rider course, but on the day of we had heavy rain and 50 mph winds and I knew that even if I was stuck riding cross country I wouldn’t ride in those conditions so I didn’t go and subsequently never got into another advanced course.

Know your limitations. Be vigilant of other drivers (the biggest lesson from cycling). If you approach it with the proper respect, I’m proof positive it can be done. 3 years and 17,000 miles later..

I did encounter a guy the other day riding a brand new haysbussa. Said he won 250k in a scratch off and it was his first motorcycle. I suspect he’s dead now, but who knows, maybe god does look after children and fools.
 
#18 ·
I got my motorcycle endorsement after completing a new rider course on the supplied Honda 250’s over 20 years ago. I had a good friend loan me her Suzuki 650 single several times in what amounted to maybe 350 miles of experience shortly after I first got my license. Then > 15 years of no motorcycle experience. I’ve always been a cyclist and averaged 2000-6000 miles a year during most all of that time. Then I decided I wanted a motorcycle. Found a extremely clean 03 GT with barely 4000 miles on the clock. I knew it was too much bike, but I also felt like my cycling experience counted for something.

Read. Watch videos. Practice. I practiced all the skills for the advanced rider course, but on the day of we had heavy rain and 50 mph winds and I knew that even if I was stuck riding cross country I wouldn’t ride in those conditions so I didn’t go and subsequently never got into another advanced course.

Know your limitations. Be vigilant of other drivers (the biggest lesson from cycling). If you approach it with the proper respect, I’m proof positive it can be done. 3 years and 17,000 miles later..

I did encounter a guy the other day riding a brand new haysbussa. Said he won 250k in a scratch off and it was his first motorcycle. I suspect he’s dead now, but who knows, maybe god does look after children and fools.
Thanks for the advice ..so far I’ve gone around the block 1000x and spent 2-3 house in the lot right around the corner.
I’m definitely feeling much more confident which equates to a few thousand more rides around the block and maybe 10 more hours in the lot before I even consider hitting the road.
 
#10 ·
Hi, If you can handle the weight of the bike and quickly learn how it steers/feels you will be fine. Just have a bit of respect in your right hand till you get use to it. From my perspective 'you can never have too much power, just the ability to use it'. Ride the bike for a while in quiet areas to get the feel and then try busier areas as you can full control.
Have fun
 
#19 ·
Definitely, thanks for the insight.
I would store the bike for a year or two and get a middleweight bike like an SV or Wee Strom and sharpen your road skills. The odds aren't in your favor jumping up from a scooter to a GT. It's a great bike, don't ruin it by getting on it before you're ready.
Hopefully I can make that happen.

I fell off the moped once on wet grass then on gravel ..so I definitely hear what you’re saying
 
#12 ·
I am a new rider (very green) I’ve ridden a dirt bike a few times and put a couple hundred miles on a 200cc moped.
I keep hearing that 1200cc’s is too much bike for a beginner. I feel I am very responsible and precautious person by nature. I’m also taking the MSF course in a couple weeks.
You ‘guys got any advise/thought on this?
I am a new rider (very green) I’ve ridden a dirt bike a few times and put a couple hundred miles on a 200cc moped.
I keep hearing that 1200cc’s is too much bike for a beginner. I feel I am very responsible and precautious person by nature. I’m also taking the MSF course in a couple weeks.
You ‘guys got any advise/thought on this?
if you must use the spike do it after you’ve had and MSF course. Make sure you can ride in an open area and that you can flat foot your feet on the ground the K 1200 RS Has a good clutch feel moving ahead from first gear just keep in mind that very slow speeds in specially interns the bike is extremely top-heavy want to move in you 5 miles an hour in above 5 miles an hour and above will not notice it Very much. Can be a real handful in the tight stuff so work into those corners with a very moderate speed. Set your self up for the corners by breaking before you Get to them and then was on the power as you’re going through. Down here all left-handers will take a while before you’re more comfortable in these situations.
 
#13 ·
Firstly, thank you for deciding to take the MSF course. Completing the MSF course is the best and safest way to start riding. The course assumes you know how to ride a bicycle and teaches you everything about riding a motorcycle from that point on. Secondly, here is my history so you can get some context about my advice. I started riding five years ago in my 50's as a way to commute to work. I started out by completing the MSF course and then went looking for a scooter. First scooter was a Suzuki Burgman 650. I crashed this bike on the third ride because I looked at the curb instead of the direction I wanted to go. Second scooter was an Aprilia Scarabeo 500, that I rode for about a year and 7,000 miles. Got bored with the scooter and traded the scooter for my first motorcycle, a BMW K1200GT.

So technically, my BMW K1200GT was my first motorcycle.

Of the three bikes, the BMW K1200GT is the easiest to ride, if you respect the horsepower AND the brakes. I really didn't understand counter steering and leaning the bike over until I started riding my BMW. The BMW gave me a lot of confidence because it was easy to ride. I respected the throttle so speed wasn't a problem. I had trouble braking smoothly until a friend of mine suggested I use two fingers instead of four. The brakes are that powerful. The front brakes are so powerful that the bike will throw you over the handlebars and laugh at you while saying,"I told you I have good brakes!", if you do not respect the brakes.

I traded the BMW for a Moto Guzzi Breva 750 because I wasn't using the bike as the bike was designed. I ride maybe 50 miles a day and sometimes in stop and go traffic. The BMW is a terrible knock around town bike. The BMW is better suited for long distance riding. 185 miles is nothing on the BMW. The Breva is probably 400 pounds while the BMW is around 700 pounds

So ask yourself what you intend to use the bike for. If you are looking for an errand bike and hang out with friends bike, the BMW is not a good bike. If you have the time to go 200 miles a ride and still come home refreshed, the BMW is a great bike.

If you have access to the bike, try this little exercise. Push the bike around. If you have the bike in a garage, push it into the garage, turn it around, and push it back out. If you can do that without any effort, you are very strong because a K1200 is a 700 pound bike. I bought a little trolley that the center stand uses so that I could easily push the bike around in the garage. If you can't push the bike around, you'll be riding it every where, literally. My BMW was so heavy that I couldn't stand next to the bike and push. I always had to straddle and walk the bike. Gently put the BMW on its side and see if you can pick it up. If you don't think you can do that, watch a couple of YouTube videos on picking up a Honda GoldWing before you attempt to pick up the BMW. With the right technique, you can pick up the BMW by yourself.

Think of my post as the practical side of owning a BMW as a first bike.

One more thing, BMW parts are frightfully expensive. You will drop the bike so ask yourself if you can afford the parts and labor to fix the bike.
 
#22 ·
[QUOTE="azl, post: 284539, member: 39826" ]... I really didn't understand counter steering and leaning the bike ...
[/QUOTE]

THIS! Despite all my time on bicycles counter-steering is not something you have to think about, the bike itself is just too light to recognize that you are even doing it.

On lesson I took from the initial rider course back to bicycles was to TURN YOUR HEAD. Look where you want to go, don’t fixate, stay loose. (Works with skiing too). I remember coming into a turn that was sharper than I thought at over 40 mph. (On a 23mm tire wearing only spandex.) I could hear myself screaming inside my own head to TURN YOUR HEAD! and it worked. Unfortunately it also gave me confidence and made me gonzo descender. I can assure you, crashing a bicycle at any speed over 20 is gonna hurt. Over 35-40, in basically your underwear, will get you an ambulance ride or worse..

But the real x-factor (at least for me on motorcycles) is counter-steering. When you feel like you’ve overcooked a turn, stay calm, look where you wanna go, and PUSH hard with that inside hand. (Calm, turn, push. Repeat that I your head so it’s second nature) It’s almost magical!

The other most important skill is awareness. Assume no one sees you. Even when the seem to be looking right at you, assume they don’t see you. Be conscious of the other drivers blind spots and stay out of them. Pass trucks, do not ride next to one. Ever see a truck tire come apart? With oncoming traffic that looks like it might turn in front of you - cover the brakes and be prepared. Always know your outs. (These lessons are probably the most valuable once you have good bike control. These are identical in cycling, just in cycling your ability to ‘throttle out’ of a danger zone is much more limited.)

Riding requires more concentration than most things you do. To me, that’s part of the allure, I’m out there doing one thing (that I love) and you have to always be thinking, looking, scanning and there’s not a lot of bandwidth left over for other stuff so you block that out and just focus on the moment. About nailing that next curve, blipping the perfect downshift, just being ‘in the flow.’ And some days, it’s just not there. On those days, put the bike back in the garage and do something else.
 
#15 ·
Please ride something less expensive to fix your first year of riding. All new riders make errors while they learn - it is completely normal to do something dumb that results in the bike hitting the ground - lose your balance getting the bike off the center stand - put your foot down at a stop light and slip on the oil slick in the center of the lane.... and bam down it goes! When riding the K bike an error like that could easily cost you 2-3 thousand dollars to repair the damage to the fairing and body panels.. It would be much cheaper to make those mistakes on that Honda. Ride that Honda every day for the rest of this summer - aim to put a few thousand miles on the Honda - if you do, you will be ready to move up to the K bike by next spring. Just remember it is much faster and heavier than anything you've ridden before, so ride it carefully and stay away from heavy traffic until riding it has become second nature. You really need two bikes, anyway - The K bike is a superb touring bike - it was designed for taking long trips cross country. It isn't really suitable for short jaunts around town.
 
#16 ·
Look at a 5-10 year old F800r bike. They're cheaper, lighter, not as powerful, great brakes and handle well, light enough to learn well and heavy enough to encourage care. You can still get caught speeding and you can die just as quick. Damage and death might be delayed though, as a novice, like a returning middle aged motorcyclist on a modern big and powerful bike, is the proverbial donorcyclist. Statistically proven.

The real smart money is to buy a cheaper bike, not so flash, a bike that won't bother you too much if you damage it. As a learner you're likely to drop it on gravel, in the carpark, in the shed just doing innocuous stuff. Don't kid yourself into thinking "it won't happen to me".

Learn to know the ground and slope under you and always park where you can put your left foot down easily without a deeper reach. Learn the centre of gravity you can manage as once the bike passes it's tip over point, your calisthenic ability becomes important as you jump and roll.
 
#21 ·
I am a new rider (very green) I’ve ridden a dirt bike a few times and put a couple hundred miles on a 200cc moped.
I keep hearing that 1200cc’s is too much bike for a beginner. I feel I am very responsible and precautious person by nature. I’m also taking the MSF course in a couple weeks.
You ‘guys got any advise/thought on this?
It is indeed a lot bike for a beginner but it has been done. Take the MSF course and then start super slow, suburban side streets on weekend mornings, etc. Look for the parking lot vids on youtube. Ride Like a Pro (Jerry Palladino) comes to mind. As for the bike, I would get to a baseline with new plugs and swapping out all the fluids and do a careful inspection of the tires and a spline lube. Depending on your money situation, take it to a dealer and have them do the once over. You'll need the dealership to replace the coolant anyway. These bikes can put you in the poorhouse pretty quick. Learn how to do the easy maintenance stuff yourself. Subscribe to BMW ON for 3d party parts places like beemerboneyard and EUMotoElectric to help you stay out of the dealership. Install some frame sliders.
 
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